Some trades make sense. Some don't. Others make sense in concept, but not necessarily execution.

The New York Islanders appeared to pull off one of the latter on Thursday night, sending Peter Regin and Pierre-Marc Bouchard to the Chicago Blackhawks for a fourth-round pick in 2015. New York is also retaining half of those players' salary cap hits, which is now allowed under the CBA. That total: $1.375 million.

The Isles could well need to clear contracts from their books; NHL teams are only allowed to have 50 players on the payroll at any given time, and it would make sense for New York to add players in potential trades for winger Thomas Vanek and Andrew MacDonald. With Regin and Bouchard in Chicago, they're farther from the 50-contract limit. Fine.

The problem, though, is that they dumped decent-enough players (and added an asset, in the form of salary retention) for, essentially, nothing. On Twitter, @67sound summed it up: "To recap: For $1.375MM cap and a 4th, the Hawks got two guys who managed positive possession in 3rd line minutes on a (crap) team."

If the Isles were trying to dump contracts, it's tough to imagine a less productive way to go about it — and if they weren't trying to dump contracts, the trade is even harder to figure out, as a fourth-round pick is essentially nothing.

The Blackhawks, meanwhile, add Regin, a depth forward, and the option to use Bouchard should the need arise. He's currently in the AHL. Best-case scenario, they contribute something. Worst case, they cost nothing and come off the books completely in the summer. Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman is good at his job.